Commentary: Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science: Reflections on the Seventh Cary Conference

Abstract

The Seventh Cary Conference was held in May 1997 at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. The general mission of Cary Conferences is to examine fundamental issues in ecology. Previous conferences have considered diverse topics, including long-term studies (Likens 1989), comparative approaches (Cole and others 1991), humans as components of ecosystems (McDonnell and Pickett 1993), linking species and ecosystems (Jones and Lawton 1995), and the ecological basis for conservation (Pickett and others 1997). We organized the 1997 conference to assess the status of ecosystem science through analysis of notable successes, current limitations, and future frontiers. Consider first success—what would you name as your five favorite developments in ecosystem science over the past twenty years? Would you focus on the enormous advances in computational and chemical methodologies, specific scientific results, compelling syntheses, or perhaps improved organization and infrastructure? We guess such a list would vary widely among ecosystem ecologists and, in part, this reflects lack of appreciation of successes in our discipline. For example, one success has been evaluation of the causes and consequences of eutrophication in fresh water [see the chapter by Smith in Pace and Groffman (1998)]. Theory and practice are richly endowed here, and clear predictions can be given for both general and specific questions about excess nutrient loading in a rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs covering a gamut of processes, including primary production, oxygen dynamics, and fish habitat utilization. Although the larger field of ecosystem science understands some of the progress in this area, it is not, in our view, widely trumpeted or even deeply appreciated. Limitations—what holds us back in ecosystem research? Are we stymied by lack of theory, poor concepts, weak approaches, diffuse focus, fragmentation, technology, money, brains? Have we applied our science well? Are we working effectively with managers and fostering collaborations and institutions that facilitate learning about real world problems? How might we redress these limitations? The conference focused on these questions by considering limitations to intellectual progress and application of science. As to the future—what are the major frontiers in ecosystem research? What are the key unknowns and how should we proceed? These are tough questions and even tougher to answer for a diverse science like ours. One might think such discussions would be the focus of our national meetings and Received and accepted 8 October 1997. *Corresponding author. e-mail: 73753.2331@compuserve.com Ecosystems (1998) 1: 137–142 ECOSYSTEMS r 1998 Springer-Verlag